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Komarr
For the novel of the same name, see Komarr (novel) Komarr (koh-MAHR) was a key planet in the Galactic Nexus, and part of the Barrayaran Imperium. Astrography Komarr was particularly rich in wormholes, with six "useful" ones in nearby space: *one to Barrayar *one to Sergyar and then to EscobarShards of Honor *one to Pol and then to the Hegen HubThe Vor Game *one to Rho CetaCetaganda chapter 7 *two unspecified others, probably including one that was useful for reaching Tau CetiBrothers in Arms chapter 4. There were also several wormholes that led to no known useful destination.Komarr chapter 2 Pertinent Data Komarr had particularly great strategic importance to Barrayar because its local space contained the single known wormhole into their space. *'Capital City:' Solstice. *'Government:' Komarr was ruled by the Barrayaran Imperium, but had its own dominant class of oligarchs. The planet was divided into twenty equal-sized sectors, each with responsibilities for regional government. The government was organized as a share-holding business, with votes allotted according to a "one share, one vote" system. In addition to one vote guaranteed to each Komarran by birth, there were many shares that could be inherited, purchased, and generally accumulated.KomarrCryoburn *'Size/Population:' Komarr had many large domed metropolis-sized cities, including Solstice, Serifosa, Olbia, Equinox, and Green Park. Solstice, the Sector where Komarran standard time was based, was three hours ahead of Serifosa. The domes were not circular, but rather were composed of thousands of interconnected structures of all shapes.Komarr chapter 3 About two dozen of the domes were large enough to have spaceports.Captain Vorpatril's Alliance chapter 6 The total population is not given in the books of the Vorkosigan Saga; it is only known that a population of 1 million (that of Sergyar) was "even smaller" than Komarr's.Captain Vorpatril's Alliance chapter 4 *'Economy:' Komarran economy was based upon trade, both by their own fleets and by charging tariffs to ships that passed through their space. Due to the large number of jump points in their system, trade passed through it on a regular basis, creating quite a bit of revenue for Komarr. Reinvestment of this income centered on sending out trade fleets; these were generally sent on 5-12 month long trade runs to many areas throughout the galaxy, often returning with very large profits.Komarr chapter 7 Komarr's economy was dominated by the oligarch families, who generally owned large trade fleets; companies not controlled by Oligarchs existed, but had to "eke out a living in the few insterstices left by the big Komarran family firms."Komarr chapter 17 *'Terrain': Rather dry, very cold; it was a Mars-like planet with a roughly 19 hour day and gravity that was almost 0.9 Earth. A soletta provided extra sunlight as part of the major Terraforming Project. There were large crater lakes in the Southern Hemisphere resulting from when a few comets were diverted and caused to perform low-impact crashes in order to increase the total amount of water on the planet. The atmosphere had abundant nitrogen, but very little oxygen except in the form of carbon dioxide.Komarr chapter 4 History Discovered 400 years prior to the time of Miles VorkosiganMemory chapter 5, Komarr was undergoing a major terraforming project to make the outside air breathable. During this centuries-long program the Komarrans were confined to domed cities, with controlled air supplies. Barrayaran Conquest and Strategy 60 years prior to Miles's birth, Barrayar was invaded by the Cetagandan Empire. As the only entrance to Barrayar was through Komarr, the Cetagandan empire bought Komarran cooperation.The Vor Game chapter 4''Brothers in Arms'Komarr'' chapter 17 Cetagandan forces occupied Barrayar for twenty years but were eventually driven out of Barrayaran space. After about 30 to 40 years of recovery and technological regrowth, Barrayaran forces poured through the wormhole to invade Komarr for three main reasons: *'''Control of their entrance - The Barrayarans wanted to be able to control their own wormhole entrance so Komarr couldn't repeat itself by letting enemy forces into Barrayaran space. *'Control of Komarran trade' - The Barrayarans understood that Komarran trade would be very helpful in regaining revenue for the Barrayaran Imperium. In particular, with control of the wormholes, Barrayarans could escape the 25% tariffs that had been being charged by the Komarrans against all trade through their space.Shards of Honor chapter 5 Also, this would allow Barrayar to contend with other powerful galactic markets, such as that of Beta Colony, or the Hegen Hub. *'Retribution/Revenge' - The Barrayans wanted revenge against Komarr's actions during the Cetagandan war and sought to pay Komarr back for allowing the invasion force through to Barrayar. The Barrayaran invasion was successful, but with a complication – the Solstice Massacre. The Solstice Massacre At the end of the invasion, 200 prominent citizens, including members of the oligarchy, were held captive by Barrayarans in Solstice, the capital city of Komarr, having been promised safety by Admiral Aral Vorkosigan. In Vorkosigan's absence, the prisoners were all murdered on the orders of his political officer. In retribution, and to regain his honor, Admiral Vorkosigan killed the political officer with his bare hands. As the suspected perpetrator of the massacre, Vorkosigan was afterward known as the "Butcher of Komarr".Brothers in Arms chapter 7 The location where they were killed came to be known as the Massacre Shrine, the counselors who were killed were named "the Martyrs."Komarr chapter 4 The Komarran Revolt About four years into Aral Vorkosigan's Regency, the Komarran population revolted against Barrayaran rule. The revolt lasted two years before dying down. Later state of affairs By the end of the Vorkosigan Regency, Komarr was controlled peacefully by Barrayar, modulo a few caveats: *In the Komarr Soletta Incident, a group of freedom fighters tried to break free by collapsing the Barrayaran wormhole. It is not known whether such an action was actually feasible.Komarr *A Kibou-daini cryocorp tried to take over Komarr by manipulating the planetary voting share system. This attempt was discovered and dealt with.Cryoburn A number of Komarrans managed to reach high rank in the Imperial military as part of the Komarr integration scheme, and Emperor Gregor married Dr Laisa Toscane, an heiress of a major Komarran oligarch family. Nevertheless, the very highest levels of government of Komarr were filled more by Barrayarans than by Komarrans. People from Komarr *Ser AnafiKomarr chapter 13 *ArozziKomarr *CappellKomarr *Lena FoscolKomarr *Duv Galeni: Formerly known as David Galen, he worked in ImpSec and by the time of A Civil Campaign had been promoted to Head of Komarran Affairs within ImpSec. *Rebecca Galen: Sister to Ser Galen''Brothers in Arms'' *Ser Galen: Father to Duv Galeni, he created Mark Vorkosigan as part of a baroque plot to free Komarr from Barrayar.Brothers in Arms *Group-commander HusaviKomarr chapter 20 *Vigo ImolaCaptain Vorpatril's Alliance *Senior Cargomaster MolinoDiplomatic Immunity chapters 2,4,8 *Barto RadovasKomarr *Madame RadovasKomarr *Group-patroller RigbyKomarr *Dr Riva: The best five-space physicist in the Imperium, she worked at the University of SolsticeKomarr chapters 16,18,20 *Lieutenant SolianDiplomatic Immunity *Administrator SoudhaKomarr *Anna Toscane: aunt to Laisa *Laisa Toscane: Empress of Barrayar as of A Civil Campaign, she was the principal heiress to the Toscane family of Oligarchs. *Marie TrogirKomarr *Dr Yuell: A very good mathematician from the University of Solstice.Komarr chapter 18,20 *Liz: Worked for the Terraforming Project; her peat bogs were doing well.Komarr chapter 4 *Philip: Worked for the Terraforming Project; he tracked bacteria and wanted to bring in higher plants and animals.Komarr chapter 4 *Lars: moved to Earth and worked under Ser Galen''Mirror Dance'' chapter 10 *Mok: moved to Earth and worked under Ser Galen''Mirror Dance'' chapter 10 Behind the scenes *The author has stated that the proto-model for Komarr was taken from Venice, Italy; see Casus belli. *The references in Komarr to times such as 2100 hours are typos. Notes and references External links * See also *List of Vorkosigan Saga planets *Barrayaran Imperium Category:Planets Category:Komarr